A masterpiece in and of itself

Rating: 9/10 (23 May 2015)

What makes Pacific Rim larger than life is not it's amazing CGI, creature design or it's over the top camp humor and action sequences but the perfect and harmonious blend of all these aforementioned features along with a good script, an excellent cast, and the kind of direction that will keep you at the edge of your seat throughout the flick. Sure it's not a "2001 a space odyssey" if that's what you're expecting but it is a masterpiece in of itself.
Guillermo del Toro the director of the film has done a wonderful job of making sure that Pacific Rim doesn't become a mindless action film which bombards the audience with CGI and eye candy like the "Transformers" series nor does it focus too much on the drama or human aspects of the film like the movie "Godzilla" does. A perfect balance has been stricken and there is a little bit of something for people of all age groups and hence everyone goes home happy.
The movie starts by explaining about an inter-dimensional hole that has erupted in the Pacific Ocean called the "breach" (hence the name Pacific Rim) through which giant monsters called "Kaiju" come to our world and wreak havoc. Unable to defeat the Kaiju through traditional means, giant robots called jaegers are created to fight them. These jaegers have to be operated by two people as one person cannot handle the "neural load". The pilots need to have a good rapport or be "drift compatible" as the movie calls it. The pilots get access to each other's feeling, thoughts, memories etc. including their fears and anxieties; hence they have to work harmoniously lest either one of them succumb to their insecurities and get both the pilots killed. As it turns out more and more kaiju keep coming from the "breach" and they keep evolving and adapting and the military just can't keep up. As the plot progresses we come to understand that these kaiju attacks are not as random as they had initially thought. How our protagonist's deal with this problem permanently forms the climax of the film.
The actors have done a brilliant job and we can literally sense their desperation as they happen to be Humanity's last resistance against these alien monsters. As unearthly as the plot sounds the actors dedication to their respective characters gives this film its "realistic" tone. All in all I'd conclude by saying that Pacific Rim is a must watch and truly happens to be a cinematic masterpiece. I'm giving it 9 out of 10 for its ability to rehash age old genres like mecha and the giant monster attacks/creature feature films and present it to a new generation in a totally revitalized and an amazing way.